Foz do Iguaco - Brazil

After the excitement of Rio, it was time to move on and see the stunning Iguazu Falls, a set of waterfalls that border Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. When we told friends and family we were visiting South America, those who had been previously insisted on us making the trip to Iguassu as it is one of the best natural wonders to see on the continent. Lonely planet lists it in one of the top 10 waterfalls in the world.

Not being overly sad to be leaving Rio and its riots behind, we packed our bags and took a taxi to the airport. Some confusion set in as it became apparent that 3 flights were leaving our gate within 30 minutes of each other, all of which were either 'boarding' or 'final call', and all through the same walkway. Strange given the other 30 empty gates in the terminal. We weren't completely sure we were heading to Foz do Iguazu until we asked the stewardess on the plane!

We arrived in Foz do Iguazu to a cooler temperature than we had left, but to a lovely small town with clean streets and friendly people. It was a nice change after the hustle and bustle of Rio! Not to lose time, we checked in to our hotel and took the bus straight over to the Brazilian side of the falls. You take a tour bus from the visitor centre out to the falls where you can do trekking, wildlife spotting, repelling, and pretty much any other activity you can name as well as seeing the falls.

The falls is also home to Coati (pronounced co-art-ee), an animal we never even knew existed and seemingly lives on lunches toursits leave behind!

Legend has it that a jealous forest god, enraged when a young warrior escaped downriver with a young girl, caused the riverbed to collapse, producing the falls over which the young girl fell, and was turned into a rock. The warrior survived as a tree overlooking the rock. Whatever caused these mighty falls, you have to see them to believe their size and grandeur:

From the Brazilian side, you get a magnificent vista of the falls from every direction; they are endless spanning over 3.5km with an estimated 275 individual waterfall cascaded all crashing into the Rio Iguazu. Looking at other travellers photos of the falls, it does seem we were there at peak flow of the river, the individual cascades in other photos are clearly defined and separated by plush greenery. We had about 5 separate cascades flowing at a rate that had shut half the viewpoints due to safety, sadly including the Devil's throat lookout where you can stand over the falls. Still they make for some spectacular pictures:

I even had a date with a sideways rainbow:

Following the trail round we reach the Garganta del Diablo, or Devil's Throat, a semicircular falls that are a sight to behold. Also good for getting very wet!!

Churrascaria - Brazilian for lots of meat!

Leaving the falls after sunset, we were aching to try the Brazilian way of eating, Churrascaria. Countless meats are cooked on rotisserie spits and brought to your table where the waiter will cut a piece of meat off to your liking. On your table will be a picture of a cow with the different cuts labelled, your participation in this is very simple, a 'Ci' or a 'Non'. Also on the menu is spicy sausages, chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto and chicken hearts (one for Will, not me!!)

Our hotel recommended one and we enjoyed a free pick up across town and settled down to a lot of meat and as much of it as we could eat. Thanks Womble for the anniversary present!

The food was good at best but you go for the experience of trying a bit of everything until your waistband protests. I may be a former vegetarian, but this has nothing to do with the fact that of the entire buffet and selection of meats, my favourite by a long way was the cinnamon-crusted roasted pineapple. Don't tell anyone, but my husband agrees!

Puerto Iguazo - Argentina

The following day, we returned to the falls, this time on the Argentinian side, going over to Puerto Igazzu, the local town. Fun as it was going into Argentina for the day (got the stamps in our passports and everything!), it was frustrating for a number for reasons: (1) you need to get some pesos for the day as they won't accept reals, (2) none of the local shops would break a note, and (3) at the falls themselves they only take cash and not card! As we had only took out enough cash for bus tickets and souvenirs, this meant I bought a ticket with the cash we had, then ran into the park to the cashpoint at the gift shop to get some more! 3 attempts later and we had our cash! Don't ask me why there was a cash point inside the park and not by the gate, clearly no logic at work here!

The falls themselves this side were up close and just as impressive, although sadly the Devil's Throat and the little island you can take a boat out to were closed due to the volume of rain. Still some great views of the falls:

Overall I think I favoured the Brazilian side of the falls as the expanse of the falls can only truly be seen from here, by contrast the Argentinian side does offer a far closer look and you get a real feel for the power of the falls roaring beside you, A brilliant part of our trip so far!

Will also got to 'stick it to the Argies' (his words not mine). I don't think they were to bothered!

The problem with Portuguese is simple: it’s not English! I count myself very lucky to be English as our former Empire means that most places you travel in the word you can get by speaking loudly, slowly and with a few hand gestures. Our education system supports this assumption and runs ignorantly behind our multi-lingual European cousins and if all else fails we also have America on our side…… and Canada, but who counts them anyway?

It therefore always comes as a shock when you arrive in a country and everything seems, well, surprisingly foreign! We stick our arms up in the air frustratingly exclaiming to each other that they don’t speak English. How could a developed nation not speak English? It’s almost as if they come to the UK and we don’t speak their native language back to them!

We always knew this would happen on our trip but we were expecting it further along in Asia and Africa. We didn’t expect it in Brazil. After all they speak Portuguese, which is similar to Spanish, which is similar to French and I speak pretty good Frenglish!

Sitting down to dinner and staring at a list of over 80 dishes written in complete gibberish, we realised eating was going to be an interesting affair. For the first time in my life I wanted to order from a menu with pictures on. Luckily I had learnt a key phrase “Rei do Frango” on our previous trip to Lisbon, which roughly translates as ‘King of the chicken’, or as we say in the UK, ’Nandos’!

Armed with this invaluable vocabulary, we were surely destined to dine like Kings….. or get scraps like chickens! We’d even seen a Nandos sign on the Escada Selaron earlier in the day. There was no way this could go wrong. After all, everyone knows ‘Nandos’ is Portuguese for chicken!

One side of the menu was headed ‘Pastille’ and had about 30 lines underneath it. This was good, we knew Brazil was big on pasties or empanadas. We pointed randomly to a couple of items from the pastille section of the menu safe in the knowledge that whatever we had ordered, it would be surrounded in pastry.

Add Natalie's allergy to fish and what you’re effectively doing is playing dinner roulette. Who knows what’s been ordered? Well, hopefully the waiter but I’m already annoyed with him for not reading every line of the menu to me. Rude!

We even chose one dish because it had the word ‘super’ in, that had to be at least ‘good’ if not super, though food labelling has misled me before, a big mac is neither big, nor is it a raincoat and Kentucky fried chicken comes from Brixton not from Kentucky as advertised.Natalie ordered a dish based on the word frango and we ordered a beer or ‘cerveja’ and gin and tonic, ‘gin e tonica’. Our first pastilles arrived and they were very tasty, some meat, ‘carne’, some cheese, ‘quija’ and some super. The waiter came to clear the plate, took out his order booklet and waited. Not to be rude, I pointed randomly at two other menu lines which he wrote down and disappeared into the kitchen.

It’s clear that Rio lives outdoors on the street, very few restaurants have large amounts of indoor seating, the majority of seating it out on the pavements where you can enjoy your plates of carbs, cheese and meat and watch the world go by.

From where we were we could watch as the night came in and the seedier side of the city took over. Ladies standing on the corners waiting for a customer, greeting each other quite bizarrely with high-fives, all in clear view of the policemen who have quite a clear presence in Rio.

Whilst we sat listening to the acoustic singer in the bar across the street, a police car pulled up and the police ordered a couple of pastilles and chatted to the restaurant owner. A car pulled up behind, went in, got a beer in an open top plastic cup, walked back past the police, stuck the beer in his cup holder and drove off. I guess that’s the zero tolerance to drink driving that lonely planet described to us!

The remainder of our meals have been a similar confusion, attempting Portuguese, having the English speaking waiter sent over and repeating words back and forth until they tire and bring you the most popular thing on the menu. The food has been good, obviously they like their beef here, and we’ve enjoyed a feijoada (a pork and black bean stew served with rice and 'forofa' - basically sweet misery sand) or two.

I particularly didn't enjoy this breakfast dish of banana and cheese sandwich served at Bob's burgers! Why do I always have to order something if it sounds a bit odd?

I’m sure there are some better dishes on the menu. We just don’t know how to order them!!!

End Biscuit Racism

I have a dream that my four little biscuits will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their crust but by their character.

Whilst we are on the subject of food, I want to use this platform to raise a crucial issue in the confectionary world.

It is time to put an end to biscuit racism. The Garibaldi's have been ruling their path of oppression for too long. Say NO to the superiority of the Custard Crème.Say NO to discrimination from the so called 'Nice' biscuitsLet us look to our multi-racial Oreo leader and say Yes, with heart and voice.Let us end Biscuit Racism todayBlack Power.

Escadaria Selaron

In 1990, Chilean-born artist Jorge Selaron decided he was fed up with his front garden and popped down to his local B&Q to spruce it up. Like most men in a hardware shop, he got carried away and what started with a few tiles, ended up in a 250 step mural that now stands as one of Rio's most well known and visited land marks.

Originally collecting tiles from nearby building sites and painting them by hand, neighbours mocked him as he spent day and night decorating the steps and selling paintings on the side to break even. Over time tiles where donated from all over the world and added to the steps as a piece of art that Jorge himself described as never to be completed, always changing.

There are now over 2000 tiles stretching over the 125m climb up to Santa Theresa. The stairs are a real marvel, though not in the nicest area of the city, they are well guarded by tourist police allowing visitors to take their time wondering the steps admiring the different tiles, trying to find one from their country or just an amusing one.

Sadly Jorge was found dead on the steps earlier this year. Burn marks were found on his body and rumours of involvements with local favela gangs and drug lords surround his death. One thing is for sure, the mural left behind serves as a vibrant symbol of Rio, can now be called complete.

Copacabana Beach

It is unknown which of the world's many Copacabana's inspired Barry Manilow's hit song, though given this beach is south of Havana, it is unlikely to be this one. Copacabana and Ipanema sit in the south zone of Rio de Janiero flanked by the iconic mountains that make the beaches so memorable. The beach is awash with beach sports, mainly volleyball and football and music and passion are always the fashion,

There are also a number of talented sand castle builders, very impressive!

Ipanema beach

Tall and tan and young and lovely The girl from Ipanema goes walking And when she passes, each one she passes Goes "A-a-a-h"

She may have been tall, tanned, young and lovely but it may be more likely that the ‘oohs’ came from the size of bikini she was wearing. Brazilian women are famed for their derrieres and as you browse the beach there is many a bottom eating up a bikini for lunch. Less is more on this beach devoted to sun, sea and the good life.

Ipanema is notably cleaner and more upmarket than Copacabana, probably due to it being slightly less accessible by public transport but it is a beauty. Both beaches are lined with stalls selling caiprainhas, cerveja (beer), coconuts with a straw in and sun loungers, just in case you weren’t already relaxed enough. What else can I say, life’s a beach!

Onde Esta Wally?

Christ the Redeemer

Ever get that feeling that someone is watching you?

On our second day we decided to go and see Rio’s most well-known landmark, Christ the Redeemer. Having been in Rio for 36 hours we were slightly confused that we hadn’t already spotted him watching over the city. For those of you who have been to New York only to realise the statue of liberty is only a dot on the horizon rather than the towering giant that TV and film make it out to be, Christo Redentor is similar in misconceived size and is a mere prick on a hill top, pun intended.

Situated 710m up on the highest of Rio’s peaks, building of the statue was commissioned in 1922 to commemorate the centenary of Brazil’s Independence from the Portuguese. When I say independence from the Portuguese, I mean it in the same ironic way of American independence, seeking a break from their former motherland.

A Very Brief History

Originally settled by the French, who were kicked out by the Portuguese wanting to prevent French domination, Brazil was named after the highly desirable Brazilwood and the dye used to colour fabrics, paints and inks.

Not much is known of its previous inhabitants whom the Portuguese considered to be stone age people of little value and worth. Importing 3.5m slaves from Africa (40% of all settlers to the new world), to farm the land for wood, sugar and precious materials.

When Napoleon marched on Lisbon in 1807, the prince regent, Dom Joāo fled to Rio de Janiero making it the only New World colony to serve as a seat of the throne to a European Monarch. The prince regent eventually returned to Portugal in 1821 (then King) leaving his son Pedro as regent. Like most unruly sons, a year later Perdro declared himself Emporer of Brazil, Portugal too weak to fight a family feud so far away let him have it. Pedro was later forced to abdicate the throne following a series of scandals leaving his 5 year old son to rule. Emporer Pedro II was to rule for 50 years forging a state that eventually rid of the monarchy itself.

Back to the statue, located in the middle of Tijuca National Park which covers 32km2 of Rio’s land mass, the original design was for Christ to hold the world in one hand and the cross in the other hand some 28m away. The design was later adapted not to include the symbols as Christ himself was the cross and Rio represented the world. Building was finalised in 1931 and the statue has been a symbol of the city and the country ever since. 30m tall Jesus looks over the city and is a constant reminder of its status as the world’s largest Catholic country.

At all these things, there is always one idiot....... I tend to find that idiot is me!

Unfortunately for us, no view of the city due to fog.

Sugarloaf Mountain

Standing at 318m tall, Pāo de Aҫúar, or Sugar Loaf Mountain, is a cable car ride away from 360 degree view of the city and across the Guanabara showcasing a myriad of high topped islands that serve as on obstacle course to incoming flights.

Unfortunately for us, we couldn’t summit the mountain on the first night due to the Brazil Confederations cup match being shown at Morro do Urca (the half way point for the cable car complete with bars, restaurants shops and even a nightclub!).On the night we did summit we were treated to this breath-taking view of the city:

Ok, so it was fogged out too! Luckily we managed to get a few shots and watch the sun go down from Morro Do Urca. A fitting scene for the end of our second day.

Rio the City

It is a real shame the riots stopped us from seeing Rio's nightlife, a vibrant colourful side that last late into the night. Other than that we really liked the city, we'd recommend staying in Copacabana or Ipanema if you were to stay and despite what we heard, we felt very safe the whole way round. There is a real buzz about the city and it is undergoing huge change in preparation for hosting the worlds sporting events. Here's hoping the government remember to prioritise their people before fame.

Football in Brazil is a phenomenon, you could say its even bigger than Jesus, and he is as big as they get here in Rio.

When looking at our South American tour, we looked at attending a football match at the Stadio Maracana. Thursday 20th June was a confederation cup match between Spain and Tahiti, unfortunately due to my inability to speak Portuguese we didn't book the tickets and decided to see if we could get some tickets off a tout outside the stadium.

The week before departing there had been protests at other confederation cup matches. What started in Sao Paolo and Rio as protests against fare hikes on public transport soon evolved into a mass of Brazilians voting with their feet against the cost of hosting the confederations cup, the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. Quite fairly, Brazilians couldn't see why the government was raising taxes to host the sporting events whilst areas of education, health and social welfare go drastically underfunded.

Monday night saw a crowd of 100,000 march through Rio and with further protests in at the Brazil confederations cup match in São Paulo on Wednesday it was clear they were gaining momentum and critical mass.

It was widely publicised there would be another protest on Thursday so we decided to steer clear of the stadium and the surrounding areas. Throughout the day as we tourist hopped around the city, groups were gathering outside metro stations preparing signs and meeting friends before heading off. The protesters from what we could see where from all age groups and backgrounds though mainly young. I saw a stat saying 77% of protestors had achieved higher education. The protest was reported to have had anything from 300,000 to 1m people in attentandance last night, the first protests Rio had seen since 1992, with similar protests in 80 other cities in Brasil, these people wanted to be heard.

Our close call

Having checked the news and local reports we were fairly confident the protest would stay around the stadium and the buildings of political power in the central district, far from where we were staying.

On the way out for dinner the streets were very lively, a Thursday night in Rio; people drinking, eating, playing music and getting ready to samba! Nothing out of the ordinary. We were headed to Rio Scenario, a four floor samba palace where the caipirinhas flow and the food and company is good.

BANG! People screamed and began running away from where the noise came from 20m behind us. Not to be left behind we ran till the end of the street, passing by many people with their hands in the air to surrender. Another bang, this time much louder and we felt the vibration through the ground, looking back down the street you could see the tear gas leaving the canister.

Turning right at the end of the street, the riot police were waiting and we could see ahead a mass of protestors proceeding down Avenue Republica do Paraguai. Another large bang. Natalie and I dove into a hotel lobby, keen not to be associated with the protest in any way. The Manager of the hotel told us we could not stay there as if he let us in, everyone would come in and he didn't want any trouble. News was spreading from across the city that violence was breaking out and protestors were smashing windows, looting and vandalising property. In Sao Paulo another protester was setting fire to a building and had overturned a bus. Messages were confusing and the hotelier wasn't going to take his chances.

Despite being only 500m from our accommodation we were told not to walk and to take a taxi. Our taxi arrived, drove to end of road, saw the protestors ahead, shouted in Portuguese and reversed the car back up the road to the hotel where he got out the car. As he continued to shout, we headed back into the hotel who reluctantly agreed to let is stay until things calmed down.

Forty minutes passed and we decided it best to try to get back to our apartment, a large square stood between us and we were worried the protest would gather there and it was best to get back sooner or later. As we stepped out the hotel other restaurants were opening their shutters and people emerging to find their way home. We joined a few others and walked briskly to the end of the street.

Bizarely, the bar area we'd been in earlier seemed unaffected, people were still sat out drinking, eating and singing their way into the night. A number of Brazil shirts were out, a few had face paint on, and the odd banner could be seen but no sign of real disturbance.

No sooner were we back in our flat and we heard another tear gas cylinder go off on the street we had walked through not two minutes ago, the noises continued intermittently for the next half hour. From our window we could see the riot police in the square and watched as they fired rubber bullets at the protestors and launched further smoke and tear gas canisters. Four helicopters circled ahead and the scene was a disco of police lights.

There was no real mass of people and we got the impression they were trying to disperse people at any cost and prevent any gatherings. We heard a real loud bang and looked to our left to see people running down the street. Tear gas was rising less than 20m from our front door.

Not long after, the riot police came down the street. People disappeared into bars who shut down their metal blinds. A few revellers stayed behind to taunt the police, throwing bottles at them. In return the police fired several shots down the street at them.

Another canister was opened right outside our front door and we could see the gas passing the window. you could instantly feel your eyes start to sting and your throat tingle when it went past. It was my first tear gassing and I have to say, I won't be rushing to try it again!!

The police passed and all was calm for a while. Twenty minutes later the noise escalated again and people ran from the streets again, this time being chased down by police on motorcycles. Again it seemed that the people weren't necessarily protestors, just people who had been in bars then the police had come along throwing tear gas and trying to prevent any gatherings.

I'm normally on the side of the law and think there's no smoke without fire but watching I had to feel they were being too heavy handed and indiscriminate in who they shot at. Reports from last night show journalists and bystanders being injured in the crossfire.

Soon after the motorcycles, a lone policeman came down the street and kicked down a door where some people had ran into firing off three rubber bullets through the doorway. People upstairs threw a bucket of water off the balcony but were not quick enough to get him.

Eventually the police and protestors left with the occasionally bang going through the night. A fair bit of excitement to our time in Rio and I can't say it's charismatic. It is clearly a one off night and similar to other protests across the world We have honestly felt safer here than in many cities in Europe. A man on the bus today warned us another protest would be in Barra tonight and the protest had been a long time coming for the people of Rio frustrated at years of bad government.

Even as I write this, the occasional noise is heard outside and it may continue for a few days yet. A real shame as we won't get to see the real Rio, the nightlife and samba dancing party nation we were so looking forward to. Hopefully some resolve will come out of it, for everyone's sake.

Our bags are packed, we're on our way....again! This time to continent number 3&4 taking us thought South, Central and North America! All 19 flights (including 2 x 20 seater plane rides in Bolivia!) are booked and itinerary set including amazon trekking, salt flat tours, inca trail, Mexico, Cuba, west coast and VEGAS!!

This is when the real travelling begins! Luckily I have picked up these flip flops to help me find my way round!!